http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/poli...on-failed.html

On 03/12/2013 16:40, harryagain wrote:
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/poli...on-failed.html


Multiple choice makes it even simpler than the version I posted.

Colin Bignell

"harryagain" wrote:
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/poli...on-failed.html

Sounded to me like he was just refusing to play the interviewers game.

Tim

In article

, Tim+ writes
"harryagain" wrote:
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/poli...tion/mayor-of-
london/10491083/Take-the-IQ-quiz-that-Boris-Johnson-failed.html

Sounded to me like he was just refusing to play the interviewers game.

Agreed, failing the test would have been playing the interviewer's game
of, "let's take the **** out of the interviewee".

I wonder if Boris could have spelled quiz if asked?

Other questions that do matter:

Do you understand what it takes to manage the largest city authority in
the UK?
--
fred
it's a ba-na-na . . . .

On Tue, 03 Dec 2013 19:41:20 +0000, fred wrote:

I wonder if Boris could have spelled quiz if asked?

Balliol don't give Classics degrees away to eejits, even lowly 2:1s...

Other questions that do matter:

Do you understand what it takes to manage the largest city authority in
the UK?

Given that he's been doing the job for the last five and a half years, I
think he probably has a considerably better idea than somebody trying to
make some vacuous point on t'internet.

On 03/12/2013 19:41, fred wrote:
In article

, Tim+ writes
"harryagain" wrote:
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/poli...tion/mayor-of-
london/10491083/Take-the-IQ-quiz-that-Boris-Johnson-failed.html

Sounded to me like he was just refusing to play the interviewers game.

Agreed, failing the test would have been playing the interviewer's game
of, "let's take the **** out of the interviewee".

I wonder if Boris could have spelled quiz if asked?

Other questions that do matter:

Do you understand what it takes to manage the largest city authority in
the UK?

I would not have been at all surprised if he had spelled it quis. As in
quis-ego.

--
Rod

On 03/12/2013 18:07, Nightjar wrote:
On 03/12/2013 16:40, harryagain wrote:
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/poli...on-failed.html




Multiple choice makes it even simpler than the version I posted.

Colin Bignell

But it helps if the questions are right.
I have a wind up alarm that does 24 hr alarms so he would get up to
almost 13 hours sleep.

On 03/12/2013 22:18, dennis@home wrote:
On 03/12/2013 18:07, Nightjar wrote:
On 03/12/2013 16:40, harryagain wrote:
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/poli...on-failed.html





Multiple choice makes it even simpler than the version I posted.

Colin Bignell

But it helps if the questions are right.
I have a wind up alarm that does 24 hr alarms so he would get up to
almost 13 hours sleep.

My answer to the question, without the multiple choice, was that it
depends upon when you go to sleep. The question only specified when the
person went to bed and that does not necessarily equate to going to sleep.

Colin Bignell

On 03/12/13 19:48, Adrian wrote:
On Tue, 03 Dec 2013 19:41:20 +0000, fred wrote:

I wonder if Boris could have spelled quiz if asked?

Balliol don't give Classics degrees away to eejits, even lowly 2:1s...

Other questions that do matter:

Do you understand what it takes to manage the largest city authority in
the UK?

Given that he's been doing the job for the last five and a half years, I
think he probably has a considerably better idea than somebody trying to
make some vacuous point on t'internet.

You might think that: I couldn't possible comment.

--
Ineptocracy

(in-ep-toc-ra-cy) €“ a system of government where the least capable to
lead are elected by the least capable of producing, and where the
members of society least likely to sustain themselves or succeed, are
rewarded with goods and services paid for by the confiscated wealth of a
diminishing number of producers.

On 03/12/13 19:41, fred wrote:
In article

, Tim+ writes
"harryagain" wrote:
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/poli...tion/mayor-of-
london/10491083/Take-the-IQ-quiz-that-Boris-Johnson-failed.html

Sounded to me like he was just refusing to play the interviewers game.

Agreed, failing the test would have been playing the interviewer's game
of, "let's take the **** out of the interviewee".

I wonder if Boris could have spelled quiz if asked?

Other questions that do matter:

Do you understand what it takes to manage the largest city authority in
the UK?
Much more pertinent: Does Boris?

--
Ineptocracy

(in-ep-toc-ra-cy) €“ a system of government where the least capable to
lead are elected by the least capable of producing, and where the
members of society least likely to sustain themselves or succeed, are
rewarded with goods and services paid for by the confiscated wealth of a
diminishing number of producers.

"harryagain" wrote:

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/poli...on-failed.html


Q1 - apples: I said 3. If there's 3 apples on the table and I can touch
them all, and I move 2 away from the 3, I've still got access to all three
of the ones that I started with. If the question really means "take 2 of 3"
it should be less ambiguously worded.


The question about the wind-up clock... why does the questioner assume that
ALL wind-up clocks are 12-hour ones. The question said the alarm is set for
9am... If the clock is only a 12-hour one, then the question is wrong,
because the alarm was actually just set for 9. Not am or pm. Of course I
know that with my alarm (a 12h clock) I'd only get 1 hour of sleep, but I
wouldn't say I'd set it for 9am.

Does anyone else think the questions are badly worded?

Q

--
Jeremy C B Nicoll - my opinions are my own.

Email sent to my from-address will be deleted. Instead, please reply
to replacing "aaa" by "284".

On Tuesday, 3 December 2013 18:07:24 UTC, Nightjar wrote:

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/poli...on-failed.html


How many apples would you have if you took two apples from three apples?

From whose apples?

The correct answer is:

Two
One
Three

But not necessarily in that order.

On Tuesday, 3 December 2013 19:41:20 UTC, fred wrote:

Other questions that do matter:

Do you understand what it takes to manage the largest city authority in

But the question that mattered concerning Mr Johnson's "most" relevant interview was: "Can we get the fool elected?"

On 04/12/13 08:04, Weatherlawyer wrote:
On Tuesday, 3 December 2013 18:07:24 UTC, Nightjar wrote:

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/poli...on-failed.html


How many apples would you have if you took two apples from three apples?

From whose apples?

The correct answer is:

Two
One
Three

But not necessarily in that order.

I can't see how you could have less than two apples if you have just
taken two.

Unless you were arrested and ended up with none.

So I think the correct answer is either none, or at least two, unless
you give negative apples some significance..

As to the answer to the bear question,the answer is of course 'whatever
colour bear the examiner put there, because no bear is native to the
north pole. And no idiot would build a house on an icepack anyway, least
of all to spend time in it looking out of the window at none existent
bears.

It's like the 'how would you measure the height of a building with a
barometer?

1/. lower it on a piece of string, and measure the length of the string'
2/. lower it on a piece of string and get it swinging, measure the
period of the swing and deduce the length
3/. drop it from the top and measure the time it takes to smash into the
street'
4/. trade it with the building designer for the correct answer.
5/. as 4, but substitute examiner for building designer.
6/. use it to predict the next sunny day, wait fr the sun to cast te
shortest shadow, and measure it, and use the known latitude of the
building, and the time of year calculate its height

Of course the will then say 'we meant with JUST a barometer' and the
answer is 'you cant - You need at least the key to the building as well,
and someone with legs or some other way to get to the top, in less time
than it takes a tropical cyclone to come along and upset your readings.
not to mention a calculator and some reference tables giving variation
in air density with height:frankly a piece of string and a tape measure
or digital watch is more likely. Anyway you didn't say how would you use
those objects - you simply said how would YOU use, and all the answers
are valid. Even if some of them don't work or give the wrong answer to
the height!'


Mr Patel put 48 copies of the 'Bradford community Times' on his shelf in
his corner shop on Monday, on Tuesday there were 14 copies less, on
Wednesday he counted the copies and 20 were left, and on Thursday he
noticed they had all gone. How many copies a day does Mr Patel sell?

1/. slightly more than one since the Bradford community times is a
monthly periodical.

2/. Slightly less than one since the Bradford community times comes out
quarterly

3/. None, since the Bradford community times is a free periodical

4/. None. since Mr Patel doesn't own the shop.

5/. 2 - the rest were sold by his wife.

6/. He only sold one copy, the rest were all stolen.

7/. None, since in fact the other shelf stacker kept moving them back to
the storeroom, where they now still reside.

8/. 32, since Mr Patel only put half of them out himself, and his wife
put out the other 48 copies ..

.....


--
Ineptocracy

(in-ep-toc-ra-cy) €“ a system of government where the least capable to
lead are elected by the least capable of producing, and where the
members of society least likely to sustain themselves or succeed, are
rewarded with goods and services paid for by the confiscated wealth of a
diminishing number of producers.

"Nightjar" wrote in message
...
On 03/12/2013 16:40, harryagain wrote:
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/poli...on-failed.html


Multiple choice makes it even simpler than the version I posted.

Colin Bignell

Hah. I hadn't got to your posting when I posted that. :-)

On 04/12/2013 01:26, Jeremy Nicoll - news posts wrote:


Does anyone else think the questions are badly worded?

Q


If they are a test and to be marked as right or wrong by looking at the
tick marks they are cr@p.
If they are to see how you think in a job interview then having
ambiguity in the questions is a good thing.

I think the journalists aren't as clever as they think they are.

In message id, Jeremy
Nicoll - news posts writes
"harryagain" wrote:

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/poli...ction/mayor-of
-london/10491083/Take-the-IQ-quiz-that-Boris-Johnson-failed.html


Q1 - apples: I said 3. If there's 3 apples on the table and I can touch
them all, and I move 2 away from the 3, I've still got access to all three
of the ones that I started with. If the question really means "take 2 of 3"
it should be less ambiguously worded.


The question about the wind-up clock... why does the questioner assume that
ALL wind-up clocks are 12-hour ones. The question said the alarm is set for
9am... If the clock is only a 12-hour one, then the question is wrong,
because the alarm was actually just set for 9. Not am or pm. Of course I
know that with my alarm (a 12h clock) I'd only get 1 hour of sleep, but I
wouldn't say I'd set it for 9am.

Does anyone else think the questions are badly worded?

Yes. Not wishing to embarrass myself I haven't actually read them but it
occurs to me that they must have been set in many different languages
and perhaps not originally English.

--
Tim Lamb

"Nightjar" wrote in message
...
On 03/12/2013 16:40, harryagain wrote:
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/poli...on-failed.html


Multiple choice makes it even simpler than the version I posted.

Colin Bignell

They're not really knowledge tests.
It's mostly just about careful reading of the question.

Just examples of bad communication.
Verbal pitfalls.
Useful I suppose to any foreigner learning English.
There should be only one possibility and it should be clear which it is.

On Wednesday 04 December 2013 01:26 Jeremy Nicoll - news posts wrote in
uk.d-i-y:

"harryagain" wrote:

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/poli...on-failed.html


Q1 - apples: I said 3. If there's 3 apples on the table and I can touch
them all, and I move 2 away from the 3, I've still got access to all three
of the ones that I started with. If the question really means "take 2 of
3" it should be less ambiguously worded.

I think that was the point. It is clear to me that it is a trick question,
but the answer is unambiguous IMHO


The question about the wind-up clock... why does the questioner assume
that
ALL wind-up clocks are 12-hour ones.

That I agree - I took issue with that assumption too.

I suspected that was the simplistic thinking the question setter was using
so I answered accordingly. Maybe this step is part of the test (assume the
question setter is a willoughby?).

The question said the alarm is set
for
9am... If the clock is only a 12-hour one, then the question is wrong,
because the alarm was actually just set for 9. Not am or pm. Of course I
know that with my alarm (a 12h clock) I'd only get 1 hour of sleep, but I
wouldn't say I'd set it for 9am.

Does anyone else think the questions are badly worded?

By design I think.

Q

--
Tim Watts Personal Blog: http://squiddy.blog.dionic.net/

http://www.sensorly.com/ Crowd mapping of 2G/3G/4G mobile signal coverage

A national newspaper once published a list of questions for people with high IQs who may want to join Mensa, and gave the answers further down the page. My brother and I answered the questions, and most did not agree with the official answers. I was quite sure about my answers, and then I noticed that my answers matched the official answers if I shifted their numbering down one, for the last three quarters of the answers.
The next day there were lots of letters from people arguing about some of the answers but accepting that they must be too stupid to join Mensa. Then there was an apology from the paper, with the correct list of answers.

Many people are too ready to accept whatever some "expert" has said, and don't bother to check. And of course in real life, situations are usually more complex and don't have simple answers.

Tim Watts wrote:

On Wednesday 04 December 2013 01:26 Jeremy Nicoll - news posts wrote in
uk.d-i-y:

"harryagain" wrote:

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/poli...on-failed.html


Q1 - apples: I said 3. If there's 3 apples on the table and I can touch
them all, and I move 2 away from the 3, I've still got access to all
three of the ones that I started with. If the question really means
"take 2 of 3" it should be less ambiguously worded.

I think that was the point. It is clear to me that it is a trick question,
but the answer is unambiguous IMHO

My thoughts were that, because it's obviously a trick question, the answer
was 3. I still have them all.

--
Jeremy C B Nicoll - my opinions are my own.

Email sent to my from-address will be deleted. Instead, please reply
to replacing "aaa" by "284".

The Natural Philosopher wrote:

On 04/12/13 08:04, Weatherlawyer wrote:
On Tuesday, 3 December 2013 18:07:24 UTC, Nightjar wrote:


http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/poli...on-failed.html

How many apples would you have if you took two apples from three apples?
From whose apples?
The correct answer is:

Two
One
Three

But not necessarily in that order.

I can't see how you could have less than two apples if you have just taken
two.

Very easily; in primary school the answer to

"what's three apples take away two apples"

is one apple. If you parse the IQ question that way, one is a perfectly
sensible answer. I think it depends on how precisely one regards "you" in
the question as being the same specific person both times he's mentioned,
rather than just a generic word meaning 'someone'.

--
Jeremy C B Nicoll - my opinions are my own.

Email sent to my from-address will be deleted. Instead, please reply
to replacing "aaa" by "284".

In article ,
Matty F writes
A national newspaper once published a list of questions for people with high IQs
who may want to join Mensa, and gave the answers further down the page. My
brother and I answered the questions, and most did not agree with the official
answers. I was quite sure about my answers, and then I noticed that my answers
matched the official answers if I shifted their numbering down one, for the last three
quarters of the answers.
The next day there were lots of letters from people arguing about some of the
answers but accepting that they must be too stupid to join Mensa. Then there was
an apology from the paper, with the correct list of answers.

Many people are too ready to accept whatever some "expert" has said, and don't
bother to check. And of course in real life, situations are usually more complex and
don't have simple answers.

In a similar vein, there was a program on young geniuses played out
earlier this year. The most human of them seemed incredibly bright but
in the end refused to clutter his mind up by remembering obscure facts
and figures that he would be required to memorise if he was to win the
contest and so he lost. IMV, he was the real winner.
--
fred
it's a ba-na-na . . . .

On 04/12/13 13:46, Jeremy Nicoll - news posts wrote:
The Natural Philosopher wrote:

On 04/12/13 08:04, Weatherlawyer wrote:
On Tuesday, 3 December 2013 18:07:24 UTC, Nightjar wrote:


http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/poli...on-failed.html

How many apples would you have if you took two apples from three apples?
From whose apples?
The correct answer is:

Two
One
Three

But not necessarily in that order.

I can't see how you could have less than two apples if you have just taken
two.

Very easily; in primary school the answer to

"what's three apples take away two apples"

is one apple.

And that is where the rots sets in..

The question is meaningless.

If it is phrased as 'IF YOU had three apples and *I* were to take two
away from YOU, how many would YOU have left? ' it not only has an
unambiguous answer, but it shows how to phrase an unambiguous question.




If you parse the IQ question that way, one is a perfectly
sensible answer. I think it depends on how precisely one regards "you" in
the question as being the same specific person both times he's mentioned,
rather than just a generic word meaning 'someone'.



--
Ineptocracy

(in-ep-toc-ra-cy) €“ a system of government where the least capable to
lead are elected by the least capable of producing, and where the
members of society least likely to sustain themselves or succeed, are
rewarded with goods and services paid for by the confiscated wealth of a
diminishing number of producers.